No let-up in Balochistan violence; four more killed

QUETTA: As many as four people were killed and three others were injured in separate incidents in Quetta and Khuzdar on Thursday. In the first incident, a man was killed and two others, including a Finance Department employee, sustained injuries after they came under fire in the Khuchlak area of Quetta.

According to police, the people were on their way to Pishin in a car when they were attacked. As a result, one of the men was killed and two others sustained critical wounds. The assailants fled from the scene.

Following the incident, police rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area and started a search operation. The body and the injured were shifted to the Civil Hospital.

“The victims were the employees of the Finance Department and were on their way to Pishin from Quetta when they were targeted,” police said. The motive behind the killing is yet to be ascertained. The deceased was identified as Sikandar Ali and the injured as Mushtaq Hussain and Saqib.

Separately, unidentified motorcyclists opened fire on a mechanic’s shop on Zarghoon Road in the provincial capital. Two people were killed on the spot. The deceased were identified as Imran Bhatti s/o Nazir Khan, a resident of Kasur and Shiraz s/o Fiaz Baig, a resident of Karachi.

The assailants escaped from the scene after committing the crime. Police rushed to the scene and shifted the bodies to the Civil Hospital in Quetta. Meanwhile, unidentified assailants opened fire on a barber’s shop in the provincial capital. A person identified as Muhammad Arif s/o Allah Data, a resident of Bahawalpur was injured. The injured was shifted to the Civil Hospital, Quetta.

Separately, a man was gunned down on Jinnah Road in Khuzdar. The deceased was identified as Ghulam Mustafa Marri. The body of the deceased was shifted to the District Headquarter Hospital, Khuzdar. Police have registered cases into all the incidents and started investigation.